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Ok…its a little chilly out there, depending on where you live. Actually it’s chilly in Mexico where the temperature last night dropped to 13 C. Forget Christmas…LOL. It’s chicken soup time! Dig in (to the soup, NOT the snowbanks).

Turmeric and ginger are excellent additions healthwise BTW.

INGREDIENTS

8 bone-in chicken thighs , skin removed

12 cups cold water

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro stems or fresh parsley stems

2 shallots , quartered

2 carrots , coarsely chopped

2 large cloves garlic , smashed

1 piece (1 inch) fresh turmeric (unpeeled), thinly sliced

1 piece (1/2 inch) fresh ginger (unpeeled), thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon salt (approx.)

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves or fresh parsley leaves

OPTIONAL – 1 liter of Campbell’s Chicken Broth

METHOD

In Dutch oven or large heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine chicken, water and vinegar; cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium; simmer for 30 minutes, skimming and discarding froth.

Making the Keto Garlic Salad Dressing is really simple! – Combine all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until it’s creamy and smooth. You can start with 4 cloves of garlic and add more after you taste the dressing, if you feel like it’s not strong enough.

I know it sounds a little odd, but this is a very good dish served with rice or maybe Costco Ancient Grains. As usual my slow cooker had it ready in three hours on HIGH, contrary to what the recipe says. It seems every time I use my SC I have the same problem. What do the rest of you find?Mine is a Hamilton Beach with setting – High, Low and Warm. I can never go away and leave it even on LOW…grrr. Be aware…

In a small mixing bowl whisk together soy sauce and cornstarch until smooth. Stir in water, fish sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, lime juice and Sambal Oleek if using, set aside.

For the beef and veggies:

Toss beef with 1 tsp oil and 1 tsp cornstarch. Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large skillet or wok over moderately high heat. Add beef and cook until browned on both sides but still slightly under-cooked in the center. Transfer beef to a plate while leaving oil in skillet. Reduce heat slightly, add bell pepper, onions and garlic and sauté until crisp tender, about 2 – 3 minutes (if needed you can add another 1 tsp of oil to the skillet). Add carrots, whisk sauce mixture once more then pour into skillet and allow to simmer, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 1 minute. Return beef to skillet along with basil leaves, toss until basil has just wilted. Serve immediately over cooked rice garnished with small basil leaves and sesame seeds if desired.

Some of you are aware of my recipe posted some time back for homemade limoncello liqueur. Recently I was asked to bring a dessert to a potluck and I decided to make a limoncello tiramisu instead of the traditional one with espresso and Grand Marnier. What follows is this very tasty but time consuming recipe…thanks to Coleen, the Redhead Baker for sharing this recipe on Pinterest.

Limoncello Tiramisu Author: Coleen, The Redhead Baker

Serves: 12 servings

Ingredients

5 large eggs, divided

1 cup sugar, divided

1½ cups limoncello, divided (1/2 and 1 cup)

Zest of 3 Meyer lemons

Juice of 5 to 6 Meyer lemons (enough to yield ¾ cup)

1 cup water

16 oz. mascarpone cheese, at room temperature

40 ladyfinger cookies

Directions

Line a 9×13 baking sheet with wax paper, letting it hang over the edges on two sides.

Fill a large saucepan with about an inch of water and set it over high heat until the water comes to a steady simmer. Reduce the heat to keep water at a steady simmer.

Place two cups of ice in a very large mixing bowl and fill with about 2 inches of water.

Place the egg yolks, ¼ cup of sugar and ½ cup of the limoncello in a medium mixing bowl. Place the mixing bowl over the simmering water, and whisk vigorously until the mixture thickens (about 5 minutes).

Take the mixing bowl off the double boiler and place the mixing bowl in the ice water.

Empty the simmering water from the saucepan. Place the 1 cup of water, the remaining 1 cup of limoncello, the lemon juice, and ½ cup sugar in the saucepan. Heat over high heat until boiling, and cook at a boil for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, with a hand-held mixer or whisk, beat the mascarpone cheese until softened. Add the lemon zest and beat until light and fluffy.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until frothy. Gradually add the sugar and beat until the whites form medium peaks.

Fold a third of the egg yolk mixture into the mascarpone cheese, then fold in the rest of the yolk mixture. Then fold in the egg whites, a quarter of the whites at a time.

Canadians…Are you tired of turkey already? Try this easy one for something different.

Skillet Italian Sausage and Peppers with Penne

Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes

This comforting Italian sausage and pepper penne pasta is cooked in one skillet and comes together in 30 minutes or less for a quick and easy weeknight meal.

Ingredients

12 ounces whole-wheat penne pasta

1 pound Italian sausage links (1 package)

1 small green pepper, sliced

1 small red pepper, sliced

1 small yellow onion, sliced thin

½ cup red wine (merlot or pinot noir)

6 ounces tomato paste

8 ounces tomato sauce

12 ounces water

½ teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

Parmesan Cheese for finishing

Instructions

In a large pot of salted water, cook pasta until al dente. Reserve starchy cooking water.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over a medium-high heat. Brown sausages on all sides, until almost cooked through, remove and cut into ¼ inch slices. You don’t have to worry about cooking them all the way through, they will finish cooking while the sauce simmers.

In the same pan drizzle another teaspoon or so of olive oil and sauté the peppers and onions until slightly softened, about five minutes.

Time to make my annual limoncello drink, which takes 15 yellow lemons. The only problem is that I have the fruit of 15 lemons left after I remove the necessary peel. When life gives you lemons (or Costco), the only thing to do is to make lemonade, right? Pinterest to the rescue once again… It was great…you be the judge of how much sugar to add….

Perfect Lemonade Recipe (Simplyrecipes.com)

Prep time: 10 minutes

Yield: Serves 6.

For more intense lemon flavor, grate the zest from one fresh lemon and add the zest to the simple syrup as you are making it. Once the sugar has dissolved in the water remove from heat and let the zest seep in the simple syrup for several minutes, then strain out the zest when you add the simple syrup to the lemon juice.

Ingredients

1 cup white, granulated sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup) I used 1/2 cup

1 cup water (for the simple syrup)

1 cup lemon juice

2 to 3 cups cold water (to dilute)

Method

1 First make a “simple syrup”. Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Stir so that the sugar dissolves completely and remove from heat.

2 While the water is heating for the simple syrup, juice your lemons. Depending on the size of the lemons, 4 to 6 of them should be enough for one cup of juice.

3 Pour the juice and the simple syrup sugar water into a serving pitcher. Add 2 to 3 cups of cold water and taste. Add more water if you would like it to be more diluted (though note that when you add ice, it will melt and naturally dilute the lemonade). If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.